The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Towards the end of my eighth-grade year, my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. As a child, I had not seen him often. He was always one of those relatives I only saw during holidays or randomly during the year. So, in my mind, I thought “Oh, grandpa’s strong, this will be gone in no time… Right?” He used to be a little muscular due to his time in the military and he always stood up straight, making him seem taller than he really was.  I used to think he was a giant because of how tall he was compared to me. That summer, I had my quinceanera. This was the first time I saw him at one of my birthday parties. He looked so thin, much thinner than I remember.  As if he was slowly deteriorating. He walked with a cane, which I didn’t notice until he stood up and hobbled over in order to get his picture taken with me. The severity of his situation didn’t hit me until about October of that same year. He had more and more doctor's appointments. So, I got the nerve one day and spoke up. I told my mom to use my room for my grandfather so he would be able to get the care he needed. I started packing that same night. I never thought I would see the bare walls of that atrocious pink room again. All my posters and pictures were taken down, my paintings were wrapped and carefully put in boxes, my art supplies all tucked away into my closet, books taken off their shelves, and my mirror taken out of my room. It was almost like nobody had been living there for the past six or seven years. Later, in the first few months of my freshman year, I moved out of my house and sacrificed a room to my grandfather, who in all honesty was pretty much a stranger to me. This was difficult, I hardly got to see my brothers and parents, and, I couldn’t go to visit because I had so much schoolwork. 

Despite everything we all did, there was a time when we were all prepared for his death a week or so before Christmas, he was in the hospital due to some complications. I remember hearing my aunt scream from her bedroom. She couldn’t even tell us what was going on because she was hysterical. I remember seeing my usually happy, comedic aunt screaming and crying as if she were in excruciating pain. One of my older cousins came to get me so I could go to the hospital. Because of my age, I couldn’t go alone and my mom said I needed to go. But, when I saw him, I didn’t feel anything. I stared out the window and just stood there. Grandpa didn’t even want us to go into his hospital room, he said we shouldn’t have to see him in his condition. When we stood outside the door, I couldn’t even cry when I saw Grandpa. I just held my brothers until they were finally calm. But that wouldn’t be the night we lost him, it was just the beginning of the painful process of losing him. That night, when I got back to my aunt's house, my younger cousin looked at me in a way that made me feel like the world fell apart. He looked at me with this confused look on his face because he had no idea. My younger cousin had no idea as to why I was so upset and why I wouldn’t go to bed. I remained in this almost zombie-like state for about three weeks. I ended up being one of the last people to see my grandfather before he died. Grandpa couldn’t even talk to me. He was so tired. Later that week after I saw him, we would get a phone call that told us it was over. We all rushed to my house and it was like everything came crashing down. I noticed how much I had kept bottled up and I still wouldn’t let myself cry. Not in front of everyone. I had to be the one to take care of everyone, despite no one wanting to admit it, that was the position I was put in as the oldest sibling. For a while, I couldn’t really sleep. I would lay awake at night and just wait until later on in the morning so I could walk down to the basement to lie with my cousin. I wanted company for a little while. As painful as all of this was, I felt like I got closer to my cousins. We would go on walks and spend hours sitting in Chick-fil-A just talking and doing homework. My older cousin even pulled us out early during exams so we could go get pizza. Those few months taught me the importance of familial relationships and that unfortunately, even family can’t be trusted. I learned that life is too short to hold grudges and distance myself from others for such a long period of time.